by Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator
June 8, 2025

Outgoing LSU President William Tate, the first Black president of any SEC school, is calling for more investment in Southern University in a new paper analyzing the financial disparities between Louisiana’s two land-grant universities. 

The analysis was written by Tate and Keena Arbuthnot, dean of LSU’s Graduate School, who is also Black, and published in the William & Mary Law Review.

“Our financial risk analysis suggests that Southern University’s financial situation warrants monitoring and more importantly, investment,” the authors write.

Tate and Arbuthnot’s article builds on a 2023 letter from former President Joe Biden’s administration to 16 states with both predominantly white and historically Black land-grant universities, informing the states they have not lived up to their federal funding requirements and asking them to find ways to ease the disparity. 

The letter to then Gov. John Bel Edwards alleged Louisiana had shortchanged Southern University $1.2 billion over 30 years. 

Land grant universities were established in the 19th century by states that received federal property to create schools with a focus on teaching agriculture, science, engineering and military science. The first round of land grant universities, including LSU, were created in 1862. 

States that would not admit Black students to their land grant universities were required in 1890 to set up separate schools, which in theory should have been funded at an equal level. Louisiana did not want to integrate LSU, so Southern University was designated as a land grant institution. The schools receive additional federal benefits, but states must match certain funds with state dollars — a requirement that has not always been met. 

LSU’s endowment at the end of the 2020-21 school year was over $700 million, while Southern’s was around $12 million, a difference of more than $20,000 per student. LSU’s total research expenditures in 2020-21 were around $230 million, while Southern’s were just over $7 million. 

Between 2018-21, six of the 19 historically Black land-grant universities have received state matching money for federal dollars, as required by federal law. One of these schools was Southern. No predominantly white land-grant university had a problem getting the matching state funds they were owed.

Tate and Arbuthnot’s analysis take into account not just the requirements put to the states under the Morrill Acts, which created the land grant university system, but also the defunding of higher education during former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration. From 2008-18, Louisiana’s per student spending for higher education dropped 38%, with only Arizona having a more extreme funding reduction during that period. 

“The disinvestment in higher education impacted LSU’s financial health over the time horizon of our analysis, and the university experienced increased financial risk,” the two wrote. “The financial risk status of both universities is inconsistent with the expansive opportunity agenda associated with the Morrill Acts and the hopes aligned with Brown-related litigation,” referencing the landmark Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision, which desegregated public schools. 

The analysis commends legislation from U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, who as a state senator sponsored legislation to create an economic development district for Southern University. The authors also praised state Rep. Chris Turner, R-Ruston, who created a dedicated fund for deferred maintenance that is allowing Southern and other Louisiana schools to address their infrastructure needs. 

“It is the current generation of leaders’ moment to commit to a robust opportunity compact in support of 1890 institutions,” Tate and Arbuthnot conclude.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This content highlights disparities in funding between historically Black and predominantly white land-grant universities in Louisiana, emphasizing racial and financial equity issues. It focuses on promoting increased investment in historically underfunded Black institutions and critiques past disinvestment in higher education. The discussion acknowledges bipartisan efforts to address these disparities but frames the need for greater support in terms of social justice and institutional equity, aligning with center-left concerns about racial justice, education funding, and government responsibility to rectify systemic inequities.